Democratizing Access to Education Data

The Urban Institute’s Education Data Portal

Erika Tyagi

The Education Data Portal bridges the gap between data availability and data accessibility.

What do I mean by the availability-accessibility gap?
How does the portal bridge this gap?
Why does bridging this gap matter?

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet
Scanned as a PDF

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet
Scanned as a PDF
With dark text on a dark background

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet
Scanned as a PDF
With dark text on a dark background
And a little blurry

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet
Scanned as a PDF
With dark text on a dark background
And a little blurry
And inconsistent rows and columns

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet
Scanned as a PDF
With dark text on a dark background
And a little blurry
And inconsistent rows and columns
And the occasional coffee spill

What do I mean by the data
availability-accessibility gap?

Example: Collecting data on COVID in jails and prisons

A spreadsheet
Scanned as a PDF
With dark text on a dark background
And a little blurry
And inconsistent rows and columns
And the occasional coffee spill

Accessible to whom?

How does the portal bridge this gap?

Provides a one-stop-shop for 100+ datasets released by government agencies and other institutions on schools, school districts, and colleges in the U.S.
Includes harmonized data and metadata for each dataset
Makes it easier for users to look at trends over time and combine data from different sources

How does the portal bridge this gap?

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies
Re-read the data documentation

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies
Re-read the data documentation
~~Give up~~ Take an ice cream break

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies
Re-read the data documentation
~~Give up~~ Take an ice cream break
Update the code per the documentation

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies
Re-read the data documentation
~~Give up~~ Take an ice cream break
Update the code per the documentation
Remember to repeat the process again next year

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies
Re-read the data documentation
~~Give up~~ Take an ice cream break
Update the code per the documentation
Remember to repeat the process again next year
(And hope nothing changes)

Without the Education Data Portal…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Find the agency collecting the data
Read the data documentation
Download data files for each year
Load each file into R or Python
Notice a few anomalies
Re-read the data documentation
~~Give up~~ Take an ice cream break
Update the code per the documentation
Remember to repeat the process again next year
(And hope nothing changes)

This is tedious, error-prone, and simply not fun.

Using the portal R package…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

library(educationdata)

# Get data 
data <- get_education_data(
  level = "college-university",
  source = "ipeds",
  topic = "academic-year-tuition",
  filters = list(
    year = c(1990:2020), 
    unitid = "173258", 
    tuition_type = "4"
  )
)

# Plot data 
data %>%
  ggplot(aes(x = year, y = tuition_fees_ft)) +
  geom_line()

Using the portal Python package…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

import educationdata 

# Get data 
data = get_education_data(
  level = "college-university",
  source = "ipeds",
  topic = "academic-year-tuition",
  filters = {
    "year": range(1990, 2020), 
    "unitid": "173258", 
    "tuition_type": "4" 
  }
)

# Plot data 
data.plot.line(
  x = "year", y = "tuition_fees_ft"
)

Using the portal Stata package…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

* Get data 
educationdata using ///
  "college ipeds academic-year-tuition", sub( ///
  year=1990/2020 ///
  unitid=173258 ///
  tuition_type=4 ///
)

* Plot data 
twoway (line tuition_fees_ft year)

Using the portal Data Explorer…

Example: How has tuition at my alma mater changed?

Why do I think the portal bridges this gap so effectively?

By focusing on the underlying API
By focusing on data documentation

The underlying API

120+ data endpoints
(with the data)
12+ metadata endpoints (about the data)
All other tools, packages, and documentation are built on these endpoints

Data documentation

Considered a
first-order priority
For humans and machines
With details on demand

Data documentation

Considered a
first-order priority
For humans and machines
With details on demand

Data documentation

Considered a
first-order priority
For humans and machines
With details on demand

Why do I think the portal bridges this gap so effectively?

Why does bridging this gap matter?

Different people ask different—and important—questions.

Get in touch

Access the portal: https://educationdata.urban.org
Email the portal: educationdata@urban.org
Email me: etyagi@urban.org